Code Kəʊd Written Number System Computer Noun Break/Crack

• to break/crack a code (= to understand and read the message)
• it's written in code.
• in the event of the machine not operating correctly, an error code will appear.
• tap your code number into the machine.

code

1. a system of words, letters, numbers or symbols that represent a message or record information secretly or in a shorter form
• SEE ALSO area code
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/area-code
• to break/crack a code (= to understand and read the message)
• It's written in code.
• In the event of the machine not operating correctly, an error code will appear.
• Tap your code number into the machine.
• The code was difficult to crack.
2. the numbers that are used for a particular town, area or country, in front of an individual phone number
• There are three codes for London.
3. a system of computer programming instructions
• SEE ALSO machine code
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/machine-code
• Bill wrote the computer code for the project.
• malicious code that will infect your computer
• You only need to add a few lines of code.
4. a set of moral principles or rules of behaviour that are generally accepted by society or a social group
• SEE ALSO honour code
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/honour-code
• The school enforces a strict code of conduct.
• a code of ethics
• She lives by her own moral code.

Extra Examples

• Knights in the Middle Ages had a strong code of honour.
• Many schoolchildren have a very strong code of honour.
• There was a rigid code of honour associated with the cult.
• There should be a clear ethical code for researchers working with human subjects.
• A long-standing, unwritten code of behaviour governs relations between ministers and civil servants.
• There is an unwritten code that says ‘Do not date your best friend's ex’.
5. a system of laws or written rules that state how people in an institution or a country should behave
• SEE ALSO dress code
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/dress-code
• The law includes amendments to the penal code.
• The castle did not comply with modern building codes and was not accessible to the disabled.

Extra Examples

• The company has drawn up a new disciplinary code.
• The Supreme Council adopted a new criminal code.

Word Origin

• Middle English: via Old French from Latin codex, codic- literally ‘block of wood’, later denoting a block split into leaves or tablets for writing on, hence a book. The term originally denoted a systematic collection of statutes made by Justinian or another of the later Roman emperors; compare with sense (5) (mid 18th cent.), the earliest modern sense.